BACK TO THE ORIGINAL The 2,000-square-meter Freedom Park in downtown Cebu City has been restored to its old, 1600s look, complete with an obelisk in the center. —PHOTOS BY EMMANUELLE SAWIT
CEBU CITY—For over five decades, the Freedom Park here has been widely known to Cebuanos as a market for assorted and fresh cutflowers, souvenir items, food stalls and furniture.
But in October last year, the famed location in downtown Cebu City was cleared of all stores and stalls owned by 409 vendors in a bid to bring this landmark back to its beginnings. The 2,000-square meter park underwent extensive transformation and landscaping to recreate its vintage 1600s look when the area was first developed.
“We need to bring back the foundation. We deserve order and a beautiful environment,” said Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, who pushed for the revival of the park as part of his vision of emulating Singapore, which is “clean, green and progressive.”
HIVE OF ACTIVITY Locals and visitors will find something to enjoy at The Barracks.
The park, located across the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) main campus on Magallanes Street, and bounded by Calderon and Escaño Streets, used to be public space where people congregate and engage in discussions, which would turn into debates, about the burning issues of the day, such as those involving religion and politics.
It was also where Cebuanos used to gather to voice out their sentiments against abuses and inhumane government policies.
According to Cebuano social historian Jobers Reynes Bersales, the park was originally given by the then governor of Cebu to the Order of Augustinian Recollects (OAR), which runs USJ-R, so they could build a monastery when they arrived in the early 1600s.
Spanish authorities, however, asserted ownership of the park in the 1860s by building a military camp in the area, he said.
FOOD DESTINATION In front of Freedom Park is an open-air hawker’s center called The Barracks that offers a variety of Cebuano dishes including Cebu’s famed lechon (roasted pig).
Despite the OAR’s claim, the Spaniards were able to title the property, which later became a city property by the late 1800s.
From Plaza Recoletos, it was renamed Plaza de Alcolea. When the Americans took over, its name was changed to Plaza Washington.
After World War II, the park became a venue for political campaign sorties and religious debates in the 1950s and 1960s.
When protest rallies were prohibited during martial law in the 1970s, Bersales said vendors started taking over the park, selling a vibrant array of flowers and woven baskets. Freedom Park, which is part of the 7.8-hectare Carbon market, eventually became Cebu’s flower trade center.
New Carbon
Last year, the city government entered into a joint venture agreement (JVA) with Megawide Construction Corp. for the P8.5-billion modernization of Carbon market, Cebu’s biggest and oldest public market.
Carbon, which got its name from a coal depot that used to operate in the area, used to be the go-to place of Cebuanos before the birth of shopping malls in the city. Prices in Carbon were not fixed so people negotiated with vendors for a good bargain.
Louie Ferrer, president of Megawide subsidiary Cebu2World (C2W) Development Inc., said the design of the new Freedom Park was lifted from history.
At its center is a 15-meter-high obelisk. The park has walkways and trees that provide shade where people can take respite from the heat.
REDEVELOPMENT Cebu City and its top spots are in a constant state of renewal.
“We want Cebuanos to have a place to rest. Whenever they enter the Carbon market, they will be welcomed by the park,” Ferrer said.
C2W, developer of the new Carbon market, proposed that the new Freedom Park be located in a different area within the market. But Rama insisted on rebuilding it on its original spot.
Aside from the Freedom Park, Megawide’s investment includes the construction of a new market building that will accommodate 6,500 vendors, as well as other commercial structures, possibly including a ferry terminal.
Part of the new Carbon market is hawker’s center called Puso Village, an open-air complex that will offer Cebuano cuisine at affordable prices with the view of the Mactan Channel.
NO DISPLACEMENT The flower vendors who used to occupy the old Freedom Park have been transferred to the interim building of the Carbon Market.
C2W already completed other aspects of the Carbon market modernization project, including the new Sto. Niño Chapel across City Hall, the new Bagsakan area, and Freedom Park.A soft launch was held for Puso Village on Dec. 17 last year but a court, barely a week later, issued a preliminary injunction, stopping its operation after ruling that the Cebu Port Authority owns Compania Maritima, where a part of the Puso Village was built.
As the court battle goes on, the city government on May 12 decided to open the Barracks, also an open-air hawker’s center, to accommodate 300 food vendors.
The Barracks, located next to Freedom Park, has become the city’s newest food hub, with daily foot traffic averaging at 15,000 since its opening, city government data showed.
‘Soul of Cebu’
The Carbon redevelopment is a public-private partnership project that will modernize the market and turn it into a commercial, heritage and cultural district with a multimodal and integrated transport hub.
CENTRAL PARK The work to bring new life to the park is not yet over.
Cebu City, under the 50-year JVA, will retain ownership of the property with Megawide as its partner through C2W.
“Carbon is the soul of the whole of Cebu. There is no Cebu without Carbon. I want to bring back the beauty of Cebu City’s history and learn from the past,” Rama said.
Vendors displaced after the demolition of stalls and stores at Freedom Park have been transferred to an interim building of the Carbon market.
Lydwena Eco, C2W deputy general manager, said rent at the interim building remains at P8.50 per square meter per day or P42.50 per day for the 5-square meter stall as mandated by the Market Code.
No increase in rentals will be made unless amendments are made to the Market Code. Vendors also pay for utilities based on their actual consumption plus a certain percentage for maintenance.
OLD SCHOOL The University of San Jose-Recoletos near Freedom Park is one of the oldest and biggest schools in the city.
The construction of the new and modern Carbon public market will start in the third quarter of 2023 and will take around 18 months.
Phase 1 of the Carbon Market Development Project, is set to be completed in 2028. This includes the main public market and its commercial component, parking spaces, and sewer facilities used for collecting, conveying, pumping, treating and disposing of wastewater.
Phase 2, on the other hand, sees the rise of a hotel and other retail shops for tourists and residents.
Eco said the state of a public market speaks of the character of a particular place.
PUBLIC SPHERE Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama says Cebuanos deserve order and a beautiful environment.
“I would always say that Carbon is the microcosm of the entire Cebu. We start with what we have here in Carbon,” she said. “For us to maintain Freedom Park (and the entire Carbon market), it will take more than just Megawide to do that. It’s going to take all of us in the Carbon community.” INQ